Out of the Frying Pan
Out of the Frying Pan Act I Welcome to the Tournament! Let the Pre-Lims begin! "So, hear about that new team that showed up?" Within a large city near the edge of the country's coastline, there was a massive tournament ring, nearly the size of what one would consider a major league football stadium. It was full of people, onlookers and potential participants, as well as it's own fair share of gamblers and betting hopefuls. Two of which were casually walking down one of the various hallways that would give them access to the various seats within the stadium. "I think they call themselves "The Revolutionaries" or something like that." one of them continued, wearing a standard business suit, having spiked hair and wearing a pair of sunglasses. "Heard that they're composed of some pretty strong fighters." "No kidding?" Wearing a sports T-shirt with a jacket overlapping it, a similar aged man smiled widely as he recalled aloud, "I hear that Rao is the leader of the Team! You know, the strongest man on Earth next to the World Champion, Jesse Cox!" "Yeah, I heard that too." the spikey haired one replied, glancing over at his companion briefly as they spoke. "If he is on the team, then God help whoever is going up against them. I doubt even the current World Champ would be able to stand up against the likes of ole' Rao. It's gonna be one hell of a tournament, either way." "I heard that a team called the Demon Fist is also in the Tournament. This big guy named Taigen is the leader, and the only contestant besides himself is a kid named Mugen," a nearby woman to the suit-donned gentleman's left spoke aloud, raising a hand up with a scrutinizing look, "they look like tough customers. I don't care how strong the World Champ or this Rao's team is, it looks like they could take them all down singlehandedly!" While these three individuals spoke about their hopes and bets, a little ways from them was a young man with forward swept hair, brown shirt, white short sleeved coat, and blue jeans along with red tennis shoes. He was resting his left elbow on his left knee, holding his head up as he looked down at the crowd and arena below him, and then back to the three onlookers. "Well, people still won't stop talking about Taigen's bunch. Looks like our team is still going to be under a load of pressure." he spoke to the person next to him, who he was affiliated with in some way. "Considering how big that guy is, I can only assume he's worth a whole team in comparison to the kid next to him," A jersey donned blonde jock, named Sam, leaned back in his chair proximately to Marcus', as he pointed at the roster board with the team's name on it, "that Tai-fella probably thinks he can take care of all the opponents, and just let his disciple or student or...son, whoever join for the kicks of it. They also happen to have a lot of backing to win the Tournament, in comparison to you guys', who do this crazy stuff for sport." A platinum silver haired girl sitting next to Sam's right, sighed as she rolled her eyes, flicking her silky bangs behind her ear, "I don't see how the big muscular guys think they can win these Tournaments. Most of the time, its usually the little guys that win these events, not the other way around." A raven haired, black-lipstick girl with a black jacket and jean shorts chuckled, as she looked over at her female friend and her jock boyfriend, "Tell that to Jesse Cox. Not only is he dead drop handsome, but he's won every Tournament for the past five consecutive years. He's an actor, and was formerly one of the One World Army's super soldiers at one point. Trust me, that guy is anything but small," whipping her hair back, she batted her eyes at Marcus flirtatiously while grinning a winning, pearly white smile, "don't you think so, Marcus?" Marcus sighed, initially glancing back at the woman and her flirty gesture, before turning his attention back to the arena. "Call me biased, but I think he's pretty overrated myself. Actors can do that often, make themselves seem bigger than they really are." He then leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head as he did so. "I'll bet if Cox went up against a real fighter, like Rao, he'd shit his pants and run to the other end of the city." Before any of the three casual friends could answer, a daunting and charismatic voice of the Tournament announcer himself called out to the crowd, "HELLOOOOOOOO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ARE YOU READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE?!" The crowd responded, along with Marcus' three friends, crying out while standing up to their feet, before sitting back down. "THAT IS GREAT! BECAUSE OF THE FACT WE HAVE OVER FIFTY CONTESTANTS SIGNED UP, OUR ONE AND ONLY GRAND CHAMPION OF THE WORLDS MARTIAL ARTS TOURNAMENT WILL BE STARTING OFF THE MEASURED RATE OF ENTRY! AND NOW, GIVE IT UP FOR, JEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEE COOOOOOOOOOX!" Another thunderous roar echoed from the crowd, as any digital screens placed up for the audience's convienance showed a blonde, sleek shade-wearing man of large muscular stature. Smiling at the cameras, he took off his golden-violet edged Champion coat to reveal his bare, rippling torso in all of its glory, as well as the Champion belt wrapped securely around his waistline. Stepping up a number of stairs before the contestants on a pedestal, a large punching board with colorful reticles that oscillated on standby, before turning green in readiness of being struck. After waving to the cameras, Jesse settled himself into a fighting stance. Rearing back his fist, his body glowed a pure white-blue aura of energy, as he prepared to deliver a powerful punch. Smiling to himself, he knew he shouldn't use full power yet, better to show the audience a few new tricks he's been saving for an event like this. "HOO-WAAA!" Jesse shouted out, as he swung a right hook punch into the center of the target board, causing it to light up a dozen colors, and send a reverberating shockwave across the platform. A number counter read out above showing a defined count of Jesse's score: 350lbs of kinetic force. "OUTSTANDING! OUR WORLD CHAMPION HAS SET THE TONE FOR A MINIMUM OF THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF PRESSURE TO COMPETE!" The announcer spoke with jubiliation and awe, as he always did when the champion was around. Jesse smiled at the contenders, making a pair of mock finger guns, before "firing" them off at the lot of them as he walked down and put his luscious Champion coat back on, "I'll see the next thirteen of you on the stage! Laterz!" "...yep." Marcus said as he watched the initial display, and further as Jesse began to leave the arena. "He's a real douchebag, that one. Still, I gotta admit, that was a pretty impressive display...if it isn't rigged, of course." As he watched, he particularly peered down at the contestants stand, looking as if he were searching for someone specific. "Huh...I don't see her there yet. Don't tell me she's late again..." After a brief scowl fired off by the raven haired girl, Jessica, the latter comment caught her immediate curiosity, "Who's late? Don't tell me you actually got a date all of a sudden!" "Nah, that's not it, I bet its that girl on his team. I think her name is Julie!" The silver haired girl, Chelsea, raised a hand up, acting like she knew whom it was exactly that Marcus was referring to. During the idle banter, nearly ten contestants walked up, and delivered impressive punches of their own. While none of them reached above 300lbs of force, they were all authentically powerful and delivered with precision, and purpose. Then, a short-cropped black haired girl walked towards the stage. Donned in black-white camo slacks with army boots adorned around her lithe feet, a pink t-shirt overlapped by a sleeveless muscle shirt showed her as a very much tomboy. With spikey black bangs following a long braided ponytail, the girl in question took to the stage. "Here we go." Marcus then smirked, leaning forward as he saw Jane enter the arena. "Looks like she made it right on time, and still just raring to go as always." However, as he looked through the contestants, he noticed that all of the other contestants looked as if they were just as tough, if not tougher than Jesse himself. "I hope she came with her A-game in mind." Jane dug her heels in, and the three friends next to Marcus watched on with sincere interest. What was this small girl going to do what these grown men couldn't? "Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu," Her voice crawled out in a distinctly controlled hum, as her body began to glow a distinct transparent white aura. As she settled into a fighting stance, her body began to glow brighter and brighter, until the entire platform shook with trembling at the sheer density of her Ki projeciton. Then, narrowing her eyes, she took a step forward and threw her fist forward. "HA!!!" KRAK-''KOOM!'' A powerful, earth-trembling punch was delivered, with enough intensity that it created a momentary flash of electricity from the friction of her fingerless gloved hand meeting the board, blazing around the platform. Likewise, the colors emitted from the target board absorbed the energy and turned it into a series of black and white flickering formations to exude, before the energy was safely dispelled underground. Jane's reading came out as 750lbs of force. "S-S-SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF FORCE! I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOLKS, BUT THE READINGS ARE NOT TAMPERED IN ANY WAY! JANE PROCEEDS AS LEADER OF THE SCOREBOARD WITH SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS AS THE HIGHEST SCORE, AND JESSE COX'S THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF PRESSURE BEING THE LOWEST!" The announcer read out with both enthusiasm and trepidation. "Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Jane smiled toothily, pumping her fist in the air, before giving out a victory sign towards the familiar signature that was Marcus, "watch me fight, Marcus! I'm going to win this thing!" Not being the type to yell out towards the stage, as much of a quiet guy that he was, Marcus simply smiled and raised up his hand, forming his fingers into an 'ok' symbol, as he knew she'd be able to see him, or at least feel the gesture. "Still just as good as ever it seems." he said to himself quietly. When Jane had stepped off of the stage, however, his attention was turned towards the next contestant who entered. He was a fairly tall man with a unique set of violet and black clothing, but his most interesting feature was the white mask on his face, concealing all of his head, and having three holes on it's front; two where the eyes were, and another at the top center of it. On his back was a large steel gunbai, the hilt of which was attached to a black chain that connected to his right wrist. Standing in front of the punching bag, the man readied a fighting stance, reared his palm back, and remained still for at least thirty seconds, and then, he thrust his palm out into the bag, creating what seemed to be a casual hit, but when the readings would show up... ...he had hit the back with 750 lbs of force as well. "S-SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF PRESSURE AS WELL! MONSOON TIES WITH JANE, AS THE TOP PRESSURE YIELD, WITH JESSE DEAD LAST!" "W-What's going on?!" Jessica's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, as her body shook with fear and confusion, "they're all...so much stronger...than my Jesse baby!" "That girl hit the thing as hard as that masked freak!" Sam spoke aloud with an aghast tone, with Chelsea broken into utter silence. The next contestant that walked up, pushed past several fleeing contestants, all terrified of entering the ring with monsters like them. Walking up with a much more composed stance, the man in question only wore a pair of purple sleeveless shirt, a pair of beige cargo pants, and a pair of black tennis shoes. Rearing back a single orange gloved fist as he walked forward, he thrust it out, releasing a concussive burst of wind to ripple across the atmosphere. While not as flashy as Jane's demonstration, or as subtle as Monsoon, the man's affects brought him up to a bare five pounds underneath the total score. "SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE POUNDS OF PRESSURE! KENJA KODAI ADVANCES AS THIRD HIGHEST SCORE!" "..." Kenja barely batted an eyelash, already walking off the stage while chewing on a toothpick, allowing the next still standing contestant to walk up. "I wonder..." the man in the suit, seen earlier, came and sat in the seat next to Marcus. His casual tone implied tha the two knew each other in some way. "...who the guy with the white hair? I don't think i've seen him before." "Hey to you too, Creig." Marcus replied in an annoyed tone, obviously irked that his friend didn't greet him properly. "And I think he's Kenja Kodai; a real hardass when it comes to fighting one on one. I remember hearing a rumor that he derailed an entire train with a single punch." "I could tell, though, that other masked guy, Monsoon, I think he's called, looks pretty brooding too." The man identified as Crieg said in response, crossing his arms as he spoke. "They say he lifted at least a dozen cars into the air with just his mind. We've got some real freak shows in this tournament." Crieg then looked over at Marcus, raising an eyebrow. "You think Jane can match up to em'?" Marcus initially didn't respond, more in thought than anything else. But after a few seconds, he sighed and answered honestly. "Well, to be honest, she's still a little fresh in terms of these big tournaments, but she's got a spirit unlike any other fighter you'll see here. I think she'll do awesome." "Let's hope so." Creig said in response, popping his neck into place. "Because we got some pretty big guns coming out, right about now..." Rao, known to be the strongest warrior of mankind, stepped to the platform with his weighted robes wrapped firmly around his body. Taking a few steps, forward, he raised his hand up and gave it a backhanding gesture, causing the entire machine to spasm before flowing with lights. The meter up above read a distinct reading of 751lbs. "RAO MOVES ON WITH AN EVEN HIGHER COUNT OF SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY ONE POUNDS OF FORCE!" "Hmph," Rao closed all three of his eyes as he walked off stage, feeling the numbers of waiting contestants diminsh to an utter fraction of what it used to be. "Ho-ly shit." Creig lowered his glasses to see the results of Rao's punch. "Just one pound above Jane and Monsoon's results? Either he wasn't trying right then...or Jane's really caught up to him." he looked over to Marcus. "How long have they been training together, exactly?" "A few years, not sure exactly how many though." Marcus replied, stroking his chin in thought. "But however long it might have been...Jane sure hasn't come unprepared." Here comes the Badass, Mugen's Dynamic Debut! Mugen appeared to be an ordinary teenager. His body was lean and smooth, not what one would assume to be a hardened warrior or trained martial artist. He had combed black hair, with matching onyx eyes and a fair complexion. His attire consisted of a pair of dark green wrist bands, tabi socks and kung fu shoes, with a pair of yellow t-shirt and green martial art slacks. As he faced his upcoming opponent, a wry smirk of confidence projected from his face, as he regarded his newfound enemy with sarcasm, "Who are you supposed to be? The Girl Scout Terror?" Round 1 Begin, The Secret Behind the Mask and the Flames of Youth! It wasn't long until all had passed, and a total of thirty two contestants were lined up for the extended three day Tournament. With the crowds seated within the semi-circle rectangular aligned stadium, a good football sized of grass divided between the audience and the massive square shaped ring. Made of culmination of stone, plaster, and smooth polished surfacing, it made the perfect fighting grounds for intense martial arts competitions. And within the first round's lineup, a big digital screen cycled the names of all the contestants on a black board, with the golden highlighted words VS in between the two slits of random sliding words. It wasn't long, as one name slid down at the same time as the other: Jane vs Monsoon "LAAAAAAAAAAAADIES AND GENTLEMAN! THE FIRST MATCH IS ABOUT TO BE UNDERWAY AND BOY DOES IT LOOK LIKE A EARLY POWERHOUSE THROWDOWN!" The announcer began to speak charismatically and enthusiastically, as Jane forward flipped onto the arena's edge, before placing her hands on her hips with a smile on her face, "ON THIS CORNER, WE HAVE JANE! SHE IS SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD AND A DISCIPLE OF THE STRONGEST MARTIAL ARTIST ALIVE, SECOND ONLY TO JESSE COX, RAO! HAVING DELIVERED AN AMAZING SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS OF FORCE ON THE PRE-LIMINATION MATCH, WE CAN ONLY EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM THIS YOUNG LADY!" When he had finished, the masked man known as Monsoon stepped onto the stage calmly, and walked towards the center of the stage until he was only a few meters from his younger opponent. Without a word, the man quickly slammed his right fist into his open left palm, holding it there in place as he respectfully bowed to Jane, and then standing back up fully with his arms at his sides, ready for the announcer to introduce him to the crowd. As Jane bowed back respectfully, while casting a suspicious gaze at the man's weird attire and eerily dark appearance, the announcer chimed in, "FACING THIS BEAUTIFUL GODDESS OF FISTS IS NONE OTHER THAN MONSOON! NOTHING IS KNOWN ABOUT THE MASKED FIGHTER, OR IF HIS REAL NAME IS MONSOON, BUT ONE THING IS CLEAR! HE CAME HERE TO FIGHT, AND A FIGHT YOU SHALL HAVE! ARE YOU ALL READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE?!" As the crowd stood up from their seats to give a roaring affirmation, Jane had a brief pause to really regard the man, and say her fill before fists began to fly. With a smirk, she nodded to the fan, "I wonder how they let you in, carrying in a weapon on an arena ground in a martial arts Tournament. If you think you can fool me, I'm onto you, masked man!" The masked man, known as Monsoon, did not speak in response. Slowly and calmly, he readied himself into a peaceful, and perfectly balanced fighting stance, showing that he was here to truly fight Jane, and not simply talk with her. "WITH BOTH OPPONENTS ON THE FLOOR, LET THE FIRST MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND...BEGIN!!!" With that, Jane burst into action. With deft speed, Jane lunged forth towards Monsoon, swinging a flurry of punches up front to test the man's defensive capabilities. Within the wake of such fast-paced punches, she would swing an elbow and a knee strike occasionally, to break up the possibility of being predicted by her opponent. Her masked opponent responded in kind. Using high speeds of his own, his extended palm thrusts not only managed to block and evade Jane's attacks, but he was able to sneak a few of his own attacks in his flurry as well. Neither of the two were moving in terms of location, managing to stay perfectly within their places as they exchanged blows, and therefore proving a high level of focus on both of their parts. Finally, Monsoon managed to catch an opening within Jane's attacks, as she raised a leg to kick him, her other leg was stationary on the ground, which allowed him to duck, perform a sweep kick manouver and possibly trip her, in where he would follow up with a higher roundhouse kick that would send her skidding down the arena. Feeling her leg fall out from under her, she knew the more experienced martial artist would follow up the moment her back would hit the ground. Jane gritted her teeth, as she instinctively turned her body in a ninety degree turn, using her left hand to prop her body weight before twisting it to her lefthand side. This caused the roundhouse kicking leg of monsoon's to graze the back of her shirt, but not strike her forthwith. With a smile, she looped her right arm around his opponent's calf, effectively grappling it. Jettisoning a burst of Ki from her left palm, she propelled herself up into the air a mere two meters, before twisting her body around to throw Monsoon headfirst towards the arena floor, as she would backflip onto the arena flooring, awaiting to see the results of her quick thinking and timely counter. It was a smart move on Jane's part, but this was simply the beginning of the fight. As he came towards the ground, he extended both hands out towards the oncoming arena floor, and caught himself before he could cause serious damage to this incredibly hard surface. As Jane landed, he propelled his feet towards her now still standing form, aiming to deliver and especially powerful double force kick to her midsection. The moment she saw Monsoon launch himself for a double kick towards her, she rushed forward. It seemed bold, even irrational, but it would become clear as she reached the 8/10th mark to zero impact. Bending her back swiftly so her head was narily touched the arena floor, she bent her legs down and slid underneath the kick, passing directly underneath Monsoon's flying form. As he would pass her, she would swivel her two arms out and smashed her hands like hammers towards his exposed kidneys, before grappling onto the cloth material, and ramming her forehead up towards his chest with impressive force. However, her first strike simply helped him deliver his next attack. The attack she used would hit him, but her strikes would seemingly hit solid metal, and slamming her forhead into his chest would have the same effect. The impact allowed him to kick his foot into her stomach and propel himself away from her. After performing a series of backflips, the man popped his neck into place, waiting for Jane's next move. "Ngh?!" Jane grimaced with confusion and pain. The kick didn't nearly hurt as much as the clashes she took against the supposedly wooden fan and his body. She suspected foul play immediately, and righted herself to her feet immediately. "What the Hell are you trying to pull?!" She shouted at Monsoon, pointing at him accusatorily, "no weighted armor is that dense, and martial art weapons are forbidden!" Monsoon didn't verbally reply at first, and simply held up his right arm for her to see. "Not armor...but rather...myself." His purple sleeve came down, revealing a humanoid shaped and designed arm, but it was solid metal and silver in shade. Throughout it's form were black lines that went around it, and his hand was black in color. Before anyone could process this revelation, the man's form became covered in a violet colored aura, and his arm split into three pieces from the lines that were seen earlier, all cybernetic, and all connected by violet elecricity. With lightning speeds, he thrust the arm out at Jane with a powerful and brief punch to her rib-cage, packing enough force to send her out of the arena bounds. "Cybernetic Augmentations?!" Jane barely thought before the arm discharged like a rocket and punched her square in the chest, causing her to skid across the arena floor and above the out of bounds grass. Moments before she hit past the twenty yard line, she ignited her energy aura timely enough to halt herself, cracking and indenting the earth beneath her. "OH DEAR! I-I-IT SEEMS MONSOON HAS BEEN MODIFIED ALL ALONG! MONSOON IS DISQUALIFIED-" "Wait!" Jane shouted, strengthening her vocal chords with her Ki, so that she could tell the authorities before they could escort Monsoon from the fight. Soaring back to the arena, she smiled as she settled into a fighting stance once more, "I'm not done fighting yet! In fact, this makes it perfect! Please give Monsoon permission to keep fighting! I want to prove that I'm better than he thinks I am!" After a brief series of murmurs from the audience, the announcer went silent, apparently talking to the referees. Within a few long minutes, Jane fixated her eyes at the metal arm that retracted back to the joint, realizing that some flesh remained on his body, if any. She recognized wounds like that being from battle, possibly from one of the great wars of the not too distant past. If he's a veteran, she knew he came with the intentions of just fighting with everyone else. She wanted to honor him that desire. "AFTER SOME CAREFUL CONSIDERATION, WE WILL CONDONE THIS ACT OF UNEXPLAINED MODS BEFORE REGISTRATION DUE TO THIS BEING THE FIRST MATCH AND THE DESIRE BY THE OTHER OPPONENT TO FIGHT REGARDLESS! THE SHOW WILL GO ON!" The crowd roared in excitement, having already enjoyed the fair share of blows shown by both fighters, and only momentarily perplexed by the weird arm trick. Now that it was pardoned, Jane can continue to fight! "HRAH!" Jane proclaimed with a Kiai, as her body became enveloped with an intense burst of transparent silver light, making her hair flourish up wildly along with the edges of her clothes. Maximizing her strength to full potential, she wanted to see how far she could go with the restrictions she placed upon her. After all, she wanted to save the best tricks for at the Tournament, regardless of how big of an event this fight could be. "You ready now, Monsoon?" Jane asked, as she felt her aura brim brightly around herself, as she prepared for what she felt was the real battle between the two of them. The arm was retracted back into place on Monsoon's form, whirring with deep electric noises as it did so, and locked firmly into it's original joint. Knowing now that the girl had realized his true intentions all along, he nodded to her quietly, his own form brimming with the same violet aura as before, and readied his original fighting stance once again. Now, it was time to fight for real. WHIZ-WHAM! Moving within a spare dash of super-speed, Jane appeared just above Monsoon. Already in mid-flip, she executed a double arcing axe kick down upon the exposed part of his head. Knowing his limbs and body were mostly metallic in nature, she knew to apply more force to the skull, aiming to vibrate his brain through his hard head in order to induce unconsciousness. Lifting both of his arms up, Monsoon blocked the attacks, the force of which caused the ground beneath him to crack from the sheer amount of pressure that she was exerting. Grunting, the man then slung his arms out to his sides, exerting an electric pulse of energy in the process that would send her into the air, followed by two extended punches from his cybernetic arms out towards her as she flew into the sky. Allowing the momentum to carry herself up into the air, the moment she saw the cybernetic arms extend towards her, she ignited her aura and flew faster away from the offending mechanical limbs. Once they reached their limit, Jane smiled, and made her move. With a fluid bodily deployed Kiai, she halted her ascent, and moved back forward, grasping the wrists of the extended wrists and locked them into a vice tight grip. "COME UP HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!~" Jane shouted as she heaved mightily, pulling Monsoon all the way from the arena's platform up into the air. All the while, she jettisoned her body down back to the arena floor, crashing onto it with the wrists still firmly in her grasp, grappling Monsoon back down towards the arena once he reached the tallest height his arms would allow, "NOW GET DOWN HEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!~" With that, the man would disappear in the cloud of dust that resulted from his crash. After a minute or so, he rose back up to his feet. His attire was scarred slightly, but he didn't appear to be terribly faltered by the attack, as demonstrated by how his foot step broke through the solid plate underneath him that made up the arena floor. He then lunged for Jane, unleashing an onslaught of powerful kicks, punches, and elbow stirkes upon her person. Jane parried and exchanged blows, bringing forth the full measure of her energy to make her body as durable as her opponent's. The strength of her blows would cause cracks within the atmosphere, blasting away the dented and cracked arena ring, as she felt a few of the metal laced fists come into contact with her jaw, chest and abdomen, while she thrust all of her strikes towards the key points on his body. "This bites!" She thought as she traded blows with Monsoon, "even if I bring up my energy to its maximum, its not enough to completely demolish this guy's defenses. He's built to withsthand forces much stronger than he can project. If that's the case...guess I'll need to kick up another notch!" As she thought that, she ducked under one punch, raised her left leg to block a kick, and batted away another punch. Crouching down, on all fours, her body would suddenly disappear within thin air. "KAIO-KEN!" WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!! Within a sudden ignition of crimson light, Jane reappeared directly in front of Monsoon, thrusting the culmination of all of her energy into her right fist, doubling the power she had, and pouring it forth towards the sternum area of Monsoon's armored chest. The sheer force unleashed ignited the surface of the arena in flames, as tiles flew upwards against the g-forces of her punch's momentum, as her own body was basked within a crimson flare that flourished around her like a bountiful geyser. This sent Monsoon careening backwards, directly past the bounds of the arena, and into the wall just below the audience stands. Without a word, however, the entity managed to emerge from his position and jump back onto the arena floor. His entire form bristled with a light magenta aura. Then, suddenley, all of his robotic limbs began to split apart from each other's sections, connected only by strands of violet electricity. Standing taller than a large house, the entity was now fighting Jane at his absolute best, shown more when he reared his left fist back, and delivered a mightly punch upon here that would blow a massive hole in the ground when making contact. "Back for more, huh?" Jane commented off-handedly as she saw Monsoon come back, expanding his being to be much larger and harnessed by much more energy from its core. When it punched, her crimson aura flared back up, as her left hand reached out and grasped the fist. Her hair stood up from the force of her own aura as the ground distended from the force of the punch and her own Ki, "I'm sorry to say...that this fight is already over, Monsoon!" Wrenching the enormous fist to the side with her left hand, she let go of the knuckles to grapple its wrist, and pull him forward. Within a second, she unleashed a dozen air disrupting punches, with crimson flashes exuding every thunderous impact her fist made upon his shell, "Take a hint and stay down!" The attack was all that was needed to cause Monsoon to fall. The sheer force of her attacks hitting him at such speeds caused his core to malfunction. The seperated limbs all fell to the ground, including his detached head, which fell lifelessly to the ground. Monsoon was all but defeated, but was he dead? The lack of movement from any of his limbs seemed to suggest as much. As the scarlet aura of Kaioken left her, Jane bent down and grasped Monsoon by his collar, lifting him up to eye level, "Don't go playing possum on me, Metal Man! Accept your defeat with dignity, or else I'll have to ask someone to carry you out on a stretcher!" The only response Jane would recieve is the man's head detaching from it's torso, showing robotic implants on both parts of the body. But the head didn't move after it fell. The only thing Jane would hear is a slow and steady heartbeat within the torso, a heartbeat that was getting slower and slower. "Ah Hell!" Jane swore as she dropped the man's torso on the arena floor, and shouted towards the announcer, "I need a medic over here! This man's systems are drained, and he needs power and help, stat!" The response was almost immediate. Within a matter of seconds, a rectangular-shaped hovercraft flew over to the devestated arena and lowered onto the arena floor. They dropped out of their craft and quickly went to stabilize Monsoon, plugging in power chords into accessible entry ports on his torso, while they busied themselves re-clasping other parts of his limbs together, clicking like jigsaw pieces on a puzzle. "Alright...his vitals look stable! We'll take him to the ER room and see if we can get this man back to consciousness!" The lead medic responded to Jane. "Thank you," Jane sighed with relief, placing her right hand on her chest. "This tech looks like life support system intermingled with augmentations for war veterans. This guy shouldn't have come into a Tournament. Too much stress and he would've worn out his heart this way," One of the other medics chided with disapproval. "It seemed like he wanted this more than anything," Jane murmured, her eyes drawing to the man's head. "Well, his desires might kill him. I can't promise he'll live long after a stunt like this, but I can promise that he won't be doing any heavy lifting for awhile, augments or no," the Lead Medic spoke once again, as they hauled his body onto the stretcher portion of the craft. "WAIT!!!" A fairly middle aged man with a light grey beard, bald head and large glasses while in a white, scientists uniform came running out from one of the doors leading to the arena. He stopped the medics dead in their tracks before hastily looking over the robotic man's remains. "Argh! Damnit damnit damnit damnit!!! How the hell did this happen?! I turn my back for one minute, and you've already run out the door to take part in this idiotic savagry?! Gah!" One of the medics attempted to calm the man down. "Whoa whoa whoa there old-timer. What's your deal here?" "Listen here, idiot!" the scientist shouted, pointing his finger in the man's face. "That.... thing ''is an old war veteran who was too stupid to realize that throwing yourself on top of a grenade is NOT good for your health! No idea why he did it, of course. Said it was for his fellow troopers or some worthless nonsense. ''I ''found him, reconstructed him, gave him a new life and opportunity to do great things, and he sneaks out to come fight in a meritless tournament! Wanting to die with dignity my ass! Idiots! Idiots everywhere!" The man then took the detached head of Monsoon and kicked it out into the field. "Take the stupid thing and throw it in the dump for all I care!" he shouted, before angrily beginning to stomp away. The "creator" wouldn't get far. A split second the head was kicked, Jane moved in a blur to catch it, slinging it under her arm protectively. The next, she shimmered in front of the scientist, and swung her small hand up to grapple him by the collar, allowing it to constrict his bulbous neck. She glared at him with righteous ire, as her teeth bared at him as she spoke, "You have the gall to MARCH into a Tournament, a place where martial artists demonstrate the pride and skill they possess of themselves as people and get to test themselves in front of thousands of people without invitation. Then, you throw a trantrum like a child about a man who wanted to have a valiant and honorable battle in a Tournament, NOT because he had advanced mechancis, but because his heart was more alive and beautiful than some asshole like you could be! I should wring your neck for making such an embarassing scene, and DARING to lay a FINGER on this proud warrior's body!" The scientist's original, hateful attitude became one of fear as the girl grabbed his collar. "A-Alright alright! I won't touch him again. You can have him or fix him up, whatever! Just don't do anything drastic..." "GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS STADIUM! IGNORE ME, AND I'LL KICK YOUR ASS INTO ORBIT! CAPICHE, OLD MAN?!" Jane yelled, comically growing large enough to tower over his trembling stature like a skyscraper. "AAAAAAAAAAGH~!!!!!" the man screamed in response, his feet moving so fast away from the arena that it left a large trail of dust in it's wake, soon he was completely gone out of sight... leaving the dismembered Monsoon in peace. "Tch, wrinkled old ass's as cowardly as they come," Jane huffed as she turned on her heels, tossing the head back to the head doctor, "please make sure the head is reattached properly this time. Wouldn't want him not feeling his everything when he wakes up, wouldn't we?" "Y-Yes," the Head doctor spoke with a shiver running up his spine, quickly reattaching Monsoon's head back onto the rest of his body, "there, he's stable! Get him to the ER room at once! Move!" "Right!" The other two assistants nodded, rushing him off with the floating ER hover board, leaving the rest of the audience and competitors where they were. A long minute passed by, and the announcer finally had the nerve to speak up, "DUE TO INCAPACITATION OF PARTICIPANT MONSOON, JANE IS THE WINNER OF THE MATCH, MOVING HER ONTO THE SECOND ROUND!" A deafening roar would be heard from the audience, glad to be rid of the needless drama and witness the rest of the Tournament itself. Jane floated up casually back to her Team's area, huffing a few stray bangs away from her brow as she landed next to Rao with her arms crossed. "Glad you didn't pummel the old coot," Rao muttered with a wry grin, not looking at Jane as he looked towards the area where Monsoon and the said scientist exited, "it'd look bad if I was teaching rebellious, violent kids." "Cause your school's reputation has been the most upstanding, hasn't it?" Jane muttered with contorted lips as she looked to her right side. "What was that?" Rao asked bemusingly, raising his right and top brows upwards with a knowing emphasized stare. "Nothing!" Jane grunted out with a belated sigh. "That's what I thought," Rao chuckled. "Piss off," Jane growled lowly. "Nice show." Marcus said in a nonchalant manner as he came down the steps. "I personally would have liked to have seen him get his head pushed down his neck, but eh, that's a hope for another time I guess." he said as he came to sit next to Rao. "That's not the way you deal with things. Even if people deserve to suffer or feel pain, as punishment, we're not people who can use that authority when fueled by indignated anger or suffering. Otherwise, that justice is impure, setting a bad example for others," Rao answered, inclining his head towards Jane, "for what it is worth, Jane handled herself impressively well in the face of such blatant hostility." "Well yeah, there's that. But c'mon Jane, I know you wanted to knock the douchebag on his ass. Would you have?" Marcus continued. "Collar bones shattered, femurs snapped, severe concussion, internal bleeding, pried toe and finger nails, teeth punched out," Jane muttered lowly, all the while her crossed hands gripped her upper arms tightly. Her gaze shifted over to Marcus with a wrathful glare as she bared her teeth at him seriously, "if he hadn't taken my advice to run, that would've been the result of his injuries I'd leave him with. Think that's soft or too much, Marcus?" "Eyup, that sounds about right." Marcus said as he pulled out a flier from inside his shirt. "But it's a good thing you've got some badass restraints. If you pummeled a scientist straggler out there we'd all get disqualified." He then started turning pages in the flier. "Hm... looks like Taigen's team is up next, going up against some new contestant I haven't heard of. I'll bet the first one they'll throw out is ole' Mugen..." "It's the team of one, if I recall. I think Taigen thinks he's on equal footing with you, Jane," Rao suggested with a nod, as a boy in a sleevless yellow shirt and a pair of blue slacks with tabi slippers walked up and vaulted in a forward flip onto the arena floor. "Tch, as if he could take me," Jane retorted as she watched the boy walk up with nonchalant aura about him, his hands firmly pocketed in his pants. "He sure doesn't look nervous." Marcus commented, glancing down at where Mugen was while also looking at the flier's data section where Mugen was listed. "... yeah, the databook here says that, based on his previous stats from other tournaments, he's close to your ranking, Jane. I'd be careful what you say about him." "Well, stats aren't everything," Jane huffed in denial, though her eyes keenly observed this Mugen kid, crossing her arms with anticipation, "let's just see if his first song and dance in this round are up to snuff to his reputation." A Matter of Reputation, Mugen's First Battle Begins! Mugen appeared to be an ordinary teenager. His body was lean and smooth, not what one would assume to be a hardened warrior or trained martial artist. He had combed black hair, with matching onyx eyes and a fair complexion. His attire consisted of a pair of dark green wrist bands, tabi socks and kung fu shoes, with a pair of yellow t-shirt and green martial art slacks. As he faced his upcoming opponent, a wry smirk of confidence projected from his face, as he regarded his newfound enemy with sarcasm, "Who are you supposed to be? The Girl Scout Terror?" His new opponent wouldn't be amused. The man in question was a tall and well built fighter who appeared to be of African American heritage. He had brown hair styled into dreadlocks and he had a white head band over his forehead, while also wearing a solid black martial arts uniform. "Man you sound like you're gonna be a trip to be around." he said in a sarcastic tone, despite his face still being unamused. "I'm not what you call a people person. Doesn't make me a jackass, I just don't like the dribbling attention," Mugen spoke admittedly, shrugging as he stopped about a dozen meters away from his opponent, regarding him with a smile, "gotta say, you're definitely bigger and tougher looking than the last guy I fought in the prior Tournament's first round. Though I'm sure the announcer is dying to introduce ourselves to each other for us, so I'll just shut my mouth now and let him do his thing." Like clockwork, the Announcer's voice bellowed across the stadium, "LADIES AND GENTLEMENT, ARE YOU READY FOR THE SECOND ROOOOOOOOOOOUND?!~" A loud exclamation of cheers and shouts filled the entire arena, practically making everything ring with emphasis of their utter excitement to see more action. "ALRIGHT! IN THIS CORNER, WE HAVE A NEWCOMER OF GREAT REPUTATION! A YOUNG ASPIRING STAR WHO'S WON MANY TOURNAMENTS OVER THE PAST YEAR, FIGHTING WITH THE FEROCITY OF A DEMON AND THE PASSION OF ANY PRODIGIOUS YOUNG MAN WOULD HAVE! I GIVE YOU THE ONE AND ONLY, MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGEEEEENNNNN!!!~" As the crowd exclaimed with excitement, with both remembrence and acknowledgement of the announcer's call, the announcer introduced the second challenger. "IN THIS CORNER, A WANDERER WITH MYSTERY WRAPPED AROUND HIS EXISTENCE! HIS TALENTS HAVE BEEN PROVEN IN THE LAST YEAR'S TOURNAMENT, AS WELL AS MANY OTHER COMPETITIONS AROUND THE GLOBE! HIS NAME IS, MILES KILOOOOOO!~" When the crowd responded, Mugen could only chuckle at the name of his opponent, his eyes squinting with humor, "Your last name is a measuring unit?! Hahahahahahahaha!" "Yeah yeah, keep laughing." Miles responded in a nonchalant manner, putting his hands in his pockets. Judging by his expression and tone, this isn't the first time that someone had mocked his name. "How about you put that ego of yours to the test, homie? Let's see what you got." he finished, preparing his own unique fighting pose. Raising up a half-clenched left hand forward, leaning his left side and rearing back his right, holding his fist near his body, Mugen narrowed his eyes with feral anticipation, "Please. I hope you make this more interesting than the last competition I was in. World Martial Arts Tournament to local Martail Brawl Tournaments, they make no difference to the class of the fighter, just the number of spectators. Show me what you're made of, Dreadlocks!" "WITH BOTH FIGHTERS ACCOUNTED FOR AND REARED TO GO, LET THE SECOND MATCH, BEGIIIIN!" With that said, Mugen made no hesitation to move like the wind. His body's dash seem to be a blur of motion, leaving a series of after-images to trail behind his wake to the trained eye, as the rest of the audience would barely catch a glimmer of his true speed. Then, Mugen stopped short a meter in front of his target and thrusted out his fist to be but a hair's breath away from the target... '''BWHOOOOOOSH!' ...then releasing a corkscrewing blast of kinetic energy, discharged in perfect sync of his executing move by his thrust, creating a exhaling typhoon of destructive power. The intention was to catch the target's body at the centerfold of the thrust, paralyzing any counter or evasive movement, then twist them around accordingly with the immense velocity of the strike and send them hurtling across the air at critical speed. Miles held both of his arms up in an 'X' shape, blocking the strike but still sending him in a corkscrew fashion back along the arena floor. But he grounded his feet on the ground as he managed to stop. "Whew, nice shot there my man. I almost felt that one. Now let's see how you do with me." The man flew at Mugen with equal speed as before, a blue trail of energy following his every move as he delivered a powerful kick to Mugen's shoulder area with incredible force. Mugen's eyes widened at the matching of speed his opponent deployed. As his vision perceived the faster-than-average footwork, the glowing outline his presence made gave him a precognitive alert to his actions. Swinging his left arm up to block the blow, Mugen felt his heels skid sideways a good ten meters across the arena floor. He winced as he hear the pop in the air pressure from the execution the kick made on his forearm. Lowering it down, he barely noticed the steam rising from the impact indention made on his skin, only smiling with a challenging reveling. Raising both fists back up at arm-cocked readiness, he whistled aloud as his eyes locked back at his opponent, "That's nice footwork. Good kick too. You might be something else in comparison to the rest of these would-be champions!" "Yeah I figured the same of you." Miles responded without smiling, resuming his original fighting pose. "I wasn't kidding earlier either; I almost ''lost my balance back there, and you woulda won this round without any problem." His eyes then narrowed in focus, his finger made a 'come on' motion. "I hope you can keep up this sort of fight." "We're just getting started, Dreadlocks, so don't worry about me keeping up!" Mugen spoke aloud, just before digging his heels into the ground and taking off once more. The boy's movements propelled forward in a similar pattern, though keeping more upright than he did prior. Stopping a good two meters away, Mugen began launching an array of punches, veering side to side to cover a high-speed barrage 180 degree angle towards Miles area, battering at his defenses while observing his defenses in handling himself. Miles was able to keep up with him in terms of speed, but Mugen's punches were able to hit harder. Slowly, as he was trying to block the strikes, he found himself being pushed back by Mugen's assault, but he would find this the best chance to show off what he could really do. One of Mugen's punches would land directly in his face, but he would find that it was similar to hitting a wall of metal, and under that hit, Miles wasn't even flinching. The dark skinned man the reared his head back away from the fist, inhaling deeply, and then slamming it back into Mugen's outstretched fist, which would send the latter flying back across the arena floor. "The Hell?!" Mugen uttered aloud, his flurry of punches halted by the fact his knuckles vibrated against Kilo's jaw, without any effect other than producing sparks from the collision. Even after he followed up with another punch, Miles simply leaned his head back and threw it back at the next strike, with enough force to send him skidding back a dozen meters, "gah! What the hell did you do to your skin?!" Shaking his fist a few times, indicating that he felt pain striking it, Mugen looked down and didn't see any bruising or split skin. Though he definitely felt the substance being much harder than what he was aiming to hit. Looking up at Miles, he glared at him, figuring out that he had somehow subtly utilized his Ki to harden his body without him even feeling it. "''I'll just have to make my punches harder!" Mugen rationalized mentally, pulling back his left arm to be close to his side, balling his left fist and extending it in front of himself. He wanted to analyze his enemy further, to see if there was a gap or a weak spot in his steel-skin technique. Miles allowed himself to smirk for once, retaining his fighting pose as he spoke to Mugen in a slightly more confident tone. "Ey Mugen. You've never fought a Quincy before, have ya?" This intrigued Mugen. Aiming to buy himself a bit more time for an appropriate countermeasure for his opponent's technique, he goaded Miles into revealing more with what little he knew, "Oh yeah? You one of those Warrior Monks full of righteous cause and the like? What does that got to do with the fact that you suddenly made your skin tougher than steel?" Miles clenched his fist as visible blue energy lines would appear within his skin, retaining his pose and expression all the while. "It's called Reishi, or Spiritual Energy for simple folk. Only the most physically adept and disiplined people are capable of using it. With it's power coursing through me, I can block any form of attack on my person, and hit back twice as hard as any normal martial artist." His eyes narrowed in focus. "Quincy are everything humans want to be, and more." "For a monk, you sure are not lacking in arrogance," Mugen quipped as his eyes narrowed at him, "I know for a fact that I don't want to live the life of a monk just to receive power. I like doing things that normal people can appreciate, without damning my view with so-called ideals or indoctrinated morals," Pointing at him with his extended left hand, Mugen smiled darkly, "So you can take that idea that your Quincy folk are the ideal human and shove it up your ass, dreadlocks!" CRACK-VMMMMMMMM!!! The ground underneath Mugen cracked and shattered, as a deafening rise of blue-white Ki erupted from Mugen's form. The energy elapsed over the entire ring, causing the debris and scarred battlefield to shake with crackling intensity, blue tendrils funneling up from the ground in reaction to the source of the immense force. Even the stadium itself shook with trepidation in the wake of his powerful rise of Ki. It ruffled his shirt, billowing his pants, causing his hair to stand up and wave in sync. Mugen brought his fullest power brought up to the surface that he would allow, for the moment. With a smile, he dug his heels in the ground in preparation... ''SHFT! ...disappeared into thin air... SHFT-'''WHAM! ...reappearing before Miles, throwing his right hand forward to land a powerful punch. Swift momentum and condensed energy would increase the power, as well as reinforce his knuckles to withstand any abnormal density Miles may erect around the point of impact. But this punch would be like his earlier Twister Punch. A neon blue-white fissure of energy discharged mightily from his right elbow. This sped up the speed and impact force of his punch by nearly triple of what he was able to throw it, making it blur before his eyes as it became imbued with blue light with the thrust of incredibly focused, and undeterred power. "Jet Punch!" Mugen roared out as his attack launched itself upon M. Kilo's person, aiming to deal actual damage in comparison to the scathing blows he landed upon his person. Miles was unable to react in time. His Blut Vene hardened as the strike came for him, but the impact was so strong, he could feel it putting a great deal of pressure onto his defensive system. The strain was causing his teeth to clench and saliva to come out of the gaps in his mouth as he was sent flying back into the wall of the arena just behind him. A massive crash came as a result, causing dust and debris to scatter about. "Phew!" Mugen commented aloud, relaxing himself long enough to stabilize the aura of blue-white energy around his body to a dimmer hue, as he stood upright. Narrowing his eyes, he could see his body indented into the arena wall, just bare meters above the out-of-bounds grass field just before his person, "you're boasts aren't as hollow as I thought, monk! I still felt that, even through my punch. That fluxuation you made in your body's defenses, even as I propelled past it. Though, if that is all you're capable of, I'm sad to say that you're probably not going to stand up to my strongest attack without being hospitalized, Dreadlocks!" Mugen would be bragging too soon. "Hey punk." Miles said from above. His attire was burned, and there were a few bruises on his face, but otherwise, he seemed just as able to fight as before. "Think you oughta wait til the dust settles before you start braggin'." He then clasped his hands together, blue energy of his own shining from between them before he spread his palms apart. The energy formed into a solid blue javelin like weapon, with a cross at it's bottom hilt. "Get ready to see what we bitch-ass monks can really do!" he shouted as he hurled the javelin down at Mugen with tremendous speed and strength. Mugen's eyes averted above for a split second, suddenly realizing that he didn't sense his movements, let alone see him move at all. That struck a chord in him that sent chills up and down his spine. Secondly, he saw the man not floating via Ki control, but actually "standing" in the middle of the air. His fathoming of what he could be standing on whas brought to a close when he created a spear out of that same kind of energy. When he saw it move, he immediately evaded, not one to defy impaling weapons with just his bare hands. His instinct was justified, as the moment he backpedaled within a blur of blue light, the javeling crashed into the arena's ground where he stood with an explosive release. The weapon itself disappeared, dispersing what was left of the construct back into blue-white particles. "Okay, I can see it, but I can't feel it. Is this different from Ki? It certainly looks and acts like Ki, I can tell you that," Mugen internally rationalized what he saw, as his body resumed a protective crouch, looking back up at his enemy with a challenging glare, mirrored by his feral grin, "since he wants to play it that way, I guess I can dispense with the fist breaking and dish out some gun blazing!" KRAK-KOOM! Within a jettisoning blast of blue-white energy, Mugen took to the air flying with the speed of a jet, still moving with the versatility of a bird. A shimmering wake of light and Mugen appeared before Miles, Mugen swung his fist in a manner as ferocious as his Jet Punch but without the jettisoning of energy behind his elbow. Mugen knew if he couldn't hit him, he wanted to make sure he could counter his enemy's movements directly after. Miles simply smirked again. His entire form vanished in a blur of blue light, causing Mugen's fist to harmlessly hit the air where his foe once was. By the time Mugen would even be able to grasp what had happened, another blue flash appeared behind him, resulting in Miles forming back into his original state. The blue lights under his skin shined within his leg as it thrust down and slammed into Mugen, sending him straight into the arena floor with a loud crash. "Man, you're as lost as a blind man in a mall." the man joked in a sniding manner, knowing that his mysterious Quincy powers had given him a good edge over his opponent. Mugen winced under the pain from the attack that landed upon him. Whatever the Quincy was doing, he now knew that he had sparse reaction timing in order to accomplish. That burst of light made him move faster than he was able to react, due to the focus of offense. Brushing broken tile and debris off his body, Mugen looked up at Miles with a smirk. Raising his right hand up in the form of a finger gun, he only called out to him with a challenging tone, "Let's see if you're fast enough to dodge this, Dreadlocks!" A high pitched whine was heard, as condensed collection of Ki poured to the tip of his outstretched forefinger. It took upon the shape of a golfball, oscillating and humming with pure control. Then, he discharged it... "Reihō!" Mugen shouted aloud, as the bullet-shaped projectile launched from his finger tip with speed that broke the sound barrier. Its hue was nigh transparent, trailing a blue wake of energy as it screeched across the airspace towards Miles' person. Whether it collided with him directly or flew past him for a dozen meters, an explosion of climactic proportions would erupt within the sky, producing blue-white flames in the wake of the destructive force rendering anything in its path mutiliated and burnt. The bullet like projectile missed it's target, thanks to Miles' quick thinking, but it did manage to cut through one of his dreadlocks. The explosion, however, was strong enough to cause him to fall back down to the tournament grounds. "Shit! This guy's a real powerhouse!" ''the Quincy thought as he descended lower towards Mugen. He then gritted his teeth as he clasped his hands together once more and formed another large, spirit javelin. With a shout, he came and slammed the bladed tip of the javelin down to where Mugen was, resulting in a large blue explosion of his own that wouldn't scratch Miles, but obliterate anything else. Mugen would be seen within the thick of the explosion, not even seemingly making an effort to evade the attack. It was within the thick of the fiery explosion of the super-heated tongues neon blue light that lapped across the indented, crater-ridden ground underneath that Mugen's voice would be heard behind the steam and smoke. "Huh...I thought that was going to hurt a bit more," Mugen uttered with a feral grin, as blue eyes shined through the thick steam seperating himself and Miles. Before Miles would have time to react, Mugen thrust a knife hand thrust towards Miles' chest, discharging what looked like a bright fissure of bio-electricity, aiming to overload the nervous system that held the key to his enemy's method of defense, "'Baio-Shintō'! I've heard of your monks and their ultimate method of defense. Its just taken me awhile to get used to the timing of your attack. It doesn't matter how strong your skin and muscles are, the nervous system is always susceptible to electric shock. Especially if ten million volts are coursing through your blood vessels!" The smoke would disperse, thanks to Mugen's attack, showing that his shirt was burn and part of his slacks were steaming. Only small signs of damage had affected Mugen's surprisingly durable body, smiling with a sign of supreme confidence in his own powerful vitality. "Nngh!" Miles grunted as the shock was able to rattle his insides, sending him skidding back a good few meters away. Mugen's assertion was close, but not completely accurate. Had Miles' Blut Vene not been up as high as it was before, he would certainly be turned into an ash pile. He breathed heavily at first, grasping the spot where Mugen had hit him. But within just a few seconds, he began to chuckle out loud. Then, he looked straight back up at Mugen with a grin of his own. "Now this is what I'm talkin' about! I'mma have to change things up for real now!" The man then slammed his fists together as his body bristled with a bright blue aura, of which remained around his form even when he regained his original pose. "Time for you to change your shit up again, homie." he said as he pointed a finger up in the sky, smiling all the while. What Mugen would see above them both would be dozens of the large javelins that he had been using before. "Licht Rein!" he shouted as all of the javelins slammed down onto Mugen's position. "You're just a glutton for punishment," Mugen chuckled aloud as he saw Miles slam his fists and form dozens of javelins. Mugen knew one had a bit of a kick to it, but having them all converge upon the same area? Mugen, unlike his opponent, didn't appreciate taking a beating unnecessarily. Rearing back swiftly, Mugen's aura shined brilliantly as he focused a large concentration of energy into his enclosed right fist, with his left hand wrapped firmly around the wrist as his left shoulder pointed at the sky full of falling javelins. Swinging his fist out, opening his palm to face the sky full of javelins mere meters away, he shouted out with a gritted expression on his visage, "'Reitaihō!" ''VLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM! What left his palm would be an enormous fissure of blue-white energy, tackling the blanketing fall of energy javelins with extreme prejudice. The entire skyline above them would detonate into a blinding azure explosion, as the wide discharge of incredible energy caused all of the javelins to detonate prematurely. Even as the deafening crack of force indented the field and the arena as a whole, Mugen generated a pulse of jet fissures from his feet. This enabled him to propel towards Miles with incredible velocity, allowing him to close the gap between himself and the assumed disoriented Quincy opponent. Rearing back both hands, he thrust them out into a dual punch, discharging twin fissures of jettisoning energy from his elbows, further increasing the speed, force, and velocity that would strike at Miles' already damaged torso with extreme prejudice. "Twin Jet Punch!" Mugen roared out, as the full force of his punches threw forth towards its target with maximum damage capacity. What would normally be a situation to be fearful of, was one that simply caused Miles to smirk. Mugen's twin jet punch would hit him directly in his chest, with Miles appearing as if he didn't mind it at all. A massive surge of both wind and energy would come as a result, causing dust and debris to fly around the impact zone. However, when it cleared, and just a couple of meters away, stood Miles. The blue aura he had generated earlier was still around his body. "Glutton for punishment, am I?" the Quincy smirked again, calmly wiping dust off of his chest as he spoke to Mugen. "Yeah, we Quincy tend to be that way..." With another blur of blue light, he was in front of Mugen within finishing his previous sentence, slamming his right leg into Mugen's left shoulder with a Blut Arterie enhanced strike. Needless to say, Mugen was legitimately stunned when he saw no effect made from his attack. The idea that his punch could've collapsed a mountain covered in the hardest minerals was nigh capable of denting this aura of "armor" that the Quincy donned caused him to halt in his tracks. Then, the kick connected to Mugen's shoulder. CRACK! Mugen felt force that he knew could penetrate the moon strike his shoulder. His eyes widened incredulously as his body contorted with the indention the foot made across his muscle and bone that it struck. He almost fell to his knees, as his legs buckled from the force that split the very air pressure around him. His teeth rattled as he felt actual pain thrust across his body, as if he was fighting his very self instead an anticipated easy victory. Then, Mugen's smile elapsed, as his eyes relaxed back to its challenging light. His left hand grappled his opponent's ankle, thrusting it forward with enough momentum to send him onto his backside. Following up, Mugen slammed his right foot onto the man's navel, pinning him to the ground as he held his leg upwards, finally thrusting his right hand out to point at his chest in the form of a finger-gun. "Can't dodge while you're on your back, and you can take a hit that'd collapse a mountain. Let's try a point blank shot of kick-ass, shall we?!" Mugen shouted with excitement, as his finger glowed brightly before Miles' chest, aiming to hit him where he received actual damage from him prior a few minutes ago. "Reihō!" He shouted, as he released the volatile, high-speeding projectile of compressed Ki towards his enemy, aiming to create an immense explosion with him at its epicenter. All while Mugen had a firm grapple on his enemy, intending on both of them receiving the damage of the attack. "Shit, another hit like that, and I won't be able to maintain this field for long..." ''Miles thought past the smoke. His Reishi barrier had made it to where he wouldn't be severely damaged by the attack, but he still felt it's punch, evidenced by how far he had been dug into the ground as a result. His chest was also now extremely sore too; this fight wouldn't last much longer. Reaching up quickly and sending a palm strike into Mugen's chest, it would send him into the air briefly and give Miles time to get back up on his feet. Panting from the strike, as well as his use of Spirit Energy, he held up his one fist, of which was glowing with blue energy, "How bout' we finish this shit?!" Landing on the ground, a steaming and slightly burned Mugen smiled back, answering him with great enthusiasm, "I couldn't agree with you more!" Raising his right hand up, as if preforming a vertical palm-heel thrust, Mugen began to assimilate all of the energy he could into the palm of his hand. What coursed up and around the palm of his upraised hand would be considered a visual splendor. It was as if Mugen was birthing a miniature star in the palm of his hand, having it rotate and coil around with magnificent azure colored majesty, quaking the entire stadium with incredible pressure of the power enrapturing it. "'Seito Tekken!" Mugen announced, as he gripped the ball of energy within his palm, causing his whole fist to glow a vibrant azure hue. Presenting it up at an angle close to his face, Mugen smiled challengingly back at his Quincy opponent, "I must warn you, that if you don't try and use that ''Blut ''technique of yours, this will kill you. As much energy as I already used, this is the totality of what I have left. Not sure if you can prevent a mere human body from being pummeled like a moon I used this on!" "Man how many times you gonna say that shit?" Miles remarked with annoyance, his Reishi barrier glowing brightly as he forms another javelin in his hands. It sparked with an electric aura, signifying that it too was at it's maximum power. "Cause I'm gettin' pretty tired of your bigass mouth!!" SHFT! Within the spane of Miles shouting back in retort, Mugen's body was already streaking across the arena with unstoppable momentum. It was as if the aura of Seito Tekken extended across Mugen's entire being, briefly making him overwhelmingly swifter and stronger than he had ever displayed during his bout. This allowed his appearance before Miles' electric aura enraptured form to be rather instantaneous before his eyes. "SEITO TEKKEN!!!'''" Mugen shouted aloud, thrusting his fist out to punch directly into the Quincy's chest, his aura flowing forth like a tidal wave of flames, intent on overwhelming the Miles' barrier and utterly break his defenses apart. Had the Seito Tekken not been focused into a punch on a target so small, it would undoubtedly crack the very plan in half. Miles then charged at the same time, thrusting his javelin directly where Mugen's fist was going to. The collision created a blinding white light that quickly transformed into a solid white dome of energy around them and would obscure both fighters from any form of view. What the result would be as a result of such a clash... "Hah...Hah...Hah...not bad...Hah...Hah...Hah...Dread...Locks," Mugen says, his body steaming with blackened charred skin covering his right hand, but little damage elsewhere on his shirtless, sweat covered body, "but...my punch...beats your lance!" Miles was heavily burned, his lance utterly destroyed and his face in comical pain. His eyes were wide and his pupils were almost non-existant as he groaned. "...damn..." And then he fell face first onto the ground, defeated. With an exhale of relief and satisfaction, Mugen retracted his burnt fist and pointed it to the sky. A signal to the rest of the stadium he was still standing, even as he looked down with a tad bit of weariness from battling such a skilled opponent. That said, the stadium burst into an uproar of applause, cheering and clapping at the sight of another titanic battle finishing with the complete and utter destruction of the arena. Very close calls for both fighters, to see the youth triumph over the adult was definitely an inspirational sight to behold. Kenja's Wake-Up Call, A Tale of Quincies and Shinigami However, the announcer had another thing to add to his usual rhetoric, "WOW! WHAT ANOTHER AMAZING FINISH! MUGEN AND MILES SEEMED NECK AND NECK, EVEN FOR BLOW FOR BLOW, IT CAME DOWN TO THEIR FINAL ATTACKS TO TRULY SEE WHO HAD THE UPPER HAND. IN THIS CASE, MUGEN WAS STANDING AND MILES IS DOWN AND OUT, ALLOWING HIM TO PASS INTO THE SECOND ROUND! THE NEXT FIGHT, HOWEVER, WILL BE DELAYED DUE TO THE EXTREME AND UNPRECEDENTED DAMAGE DONE TO THE SAID ARENA IS REPLACED BY OUR RESERVE ULTRA RING! SO FEEL FREE TO EXIT THE STADIUM AND TOUR AROUND THE FAIR GROUNDS, OUR TOURNAMENT WILL START BRIGHT AND EARLY, RIGHT WHERE WE LEFT OFF! HAVE A GOOD DAY, LADIES AND GENTS, AND UNTIL THEN, I'LL SEE YOU ALL TOMORROW!" "Eh," Mugen winced, looking around the arena, as well as parts of the field. Various impacts, craters, and scorched marks decorated its outline, while the arena itself was nearly non-existant due to the severity the damage was made. Scratching the back of his head with his left hand, he sighed as he walked towards his side of the Tournament grounds, "guess they should've used a better ring from the get-go, huh?" Not but a dozen meters away, in their own viewer box, Rao and co. got to see the teen casually walk over and hop into a bare empty section. Rao's eyes were wide with surprise, as well as smiling with amazement, "Incredible. That boy fought against a tough opponent with enough skill and prowess to surpass most of my students. To think he did so with little difficulty in manipulating energy so effectively..." "He won't beat me," Jane said assertively, as her eyes narrowed at the boy, now wrapping bandages over his right arm where it was most burnt, "if that's all he's capable of, then he's going to be in a rude awakening when he fights me." "I'm more interested in that Quincy guy." Marcus commented, leaning up against the guard rail. "You don't see those monks around here often, especially when participating in fights. I wonder why this one is different?" "The Quincies aren't your typical monks, Marcus," Rao explained, turning his attention to the young man with a smile, "they are warriors who focus their Ki in a fashion which makes them much more aware of the spiritual phenomenas than the physical ones. Their clairvoyance in these matters make them both very skilled in combat, and very powerful in comparison to normal martial artists who employ Ki purely for physical benefits." "I heard about those stories where they seemingly fought a war with the Death Gods." Marcus said, looking over at Rao. "Is that true?" "Hmmmm, that's a touchy subject," Rao rubbed his chin, looking up thoughtfully as he carefully considered his words, "long ago, there was a single man whom was a Death God himself, who gave birth to the ability to manifest spirit energy potent enough that it gave humanity the chance to fight on their own two feet. This Death God would give birth to one of the first of many spiritually empowered human races to follow. Their Order would be called, the Quincies, started annihilating the malformed creatures known as Hollows, corrupted spirits of the deceased. Normally, the method of dispatching these monsters was left to Death Gods, as they'd possess the ability to cleanse the spirit to be reborn within the Soul Society. Quincies on the other hand possessed the ability to wipe a Hollow's malformed spirit into oblivion, utterly breaking the cycle from which the soul would traverse. This would cause incredible spiritual imbalance to the Universe, and the delicate system set in place by the gods themselves would cause utter havoc between the material and spiritual Universes. However, Hollows are all instinct and possess no morals by nature. The Quincies believed they were righteous in their anger, and their dispatchment of their ilk. Even at the cost of chaos and ruin to all the realms of reality, they'd continue destroying Hollows, until none would be left of their kind. This obviously set up an ultimatum between the leader of the Death Gods at the time and the Death God who was the leader of the Quincy folk. It ultimately led to the latter Death God's own destruction, and the near complete purge of their entire race that refused to submit to the Death Gods' demands. For awhile, less than two dozen existed in the world. It wasn't until nearly two centuries ago that the teachings were brought back into a way that'd keep them from culling the Hollows so frequently. The new Quincy Order was erected by an impressionably young man with big ideals and a big heart. He formed the new Order, as a Universal Peacekeeping Organization, protecting humanity itself from the ravages of Hollowity, rather than seeking them out in a futile witch hunt. They are often seen as aristocrats or elitists, as they have gained abilities that rival normal humans by seven fold at times. Positions as high as world leaders, politicians and even special forces, the Quincies are now a breed of meta-human that many value, as even the weakest of their kin is capable of taking down enemies of a much higher technological and tactful caliber. I only know a few that cling to the old ways. Knowing what the Death Gods did to their ancestors, and what they're capable, they prefer to distance themselves from society and make themselves into wandering warriors of justice and philosophy." "... wow." Marcus said, not expecting to have an entire history lesson given to him, neither were the others, judging by their expressions. It was a lesson, however, that had made him rethink the way they had previously perceived Miles Kilo. "So do the Shinigami still do their thing to this day? Or have they just kept to themselves?" Upon seeing Jane possess a softer, less critical look about her from what she heard of Rao's lecture, the latter resumed with a cupping of his own chin as he looks up, "Who knows? The only ones who'd know that are people who are spiritually aware. People who use Ki are most likely the kind that can witness the creatures and beings belonging from the ether worlds. The fact you haven't seen a Death God isn't surprising, as they try to keep their organization largely a secret from the masses. The only ones who'd be mostly aware of them are the present-day Quincies. Of course, without the Death Gods, the world would spiral into chaos and Hollows would either be culled in mass or the people of the world would be devoured." "Or people who are dead." Marcus said as he looked back onto the arena, resting his chin on the seat in front of him. "They always see them up close. I'd imagine that's a better vision before death than seeing a big skeleton with a scythe greet them." When the conversation ended, a loud yawn was heard from behind Marcus. Kenja had woken up from napping through the first two fights in the round, having thought nothing much of them with really nothing involving himself. Dressed in a simple pair of black tank top and a pair of cargo shorts, with orange laced tennis shoes and a pair of fingerless gloves, he looked completely and underwhelmingly average in the scope of the other competitors. "Did someone just finish talking about zombies with scythes, or is that about some little girl wielding a zombie-latched scythe?" Kenja asked groggily, still trying to wipe away the sleepiness from his eyes. "Have a good sleep there, snow white?" Marcus asked in a redundant, bored tone, not even turning to look at him as the man woke up. He'd known that Kenja was behind him, but also didn't know how long he'd been asleep this whole time. "The man sleeps like a rock, and is about as dense as one," Jane groaned in embarassment, slapping a palm to her face and letting it drag down exaggeratively, "its just a good thing that guy and I trashed the ring so he wouldn't have to be woken up for his fight..." "My fight's next? Damn..." Kenja groaned as he blinked away the bluriness in his vision, trying to look around at his environment. Much to his surprise, he saw a ring smashed to pieces descending into the ground, with a brand new and much more durable one being lowered to the ground via helicopter. It sported a much more high tech and efficient material, looking more like a cube than a legitimate arena, "I hope I don't have to fight on that ridiculous piece of shit..." While that was taking place, there was another figure watching Kenja's group from across the audience section. She appeared to be a fairly matured woman with short, dark red hair and emerald green eyes, wearing a business suit and a pair of sunglasses. "Yeah, he was just selected for the next match." she said into a cell phone that she had with her. "The speaker's bug is going to activate soon. Want me to speed it up?" ''"No no." ''a british voice responded from the phone. ''"Let's have things play out naturally, see just what our next two contenders are capable of." '' As the helicopter took off, the announcer explained, "UNTIL A NEW RING IS FOUND TO REPLACE THE OLD ONE, A BENEFACTOR BY THE NAME OF ASUMU GODAI HAS ALLOWED THE ARENA TO TEST OUT THE PROTOTYPE THAT WAS PROMISED TO BE IN USE IN THE NEXT TOURNAMENT SEASON. THE AUDIENCE AND FELLOW CONTENDERS WILL BE GIFTED WITH SPECIAL IMAGING GLASSES TO ALLOW THEM TO WITNESS THE EXCITEMENT, AS IF THEY REALLY ARE THERE. GHOSTS TO COMBATANTS AND GHOSTS TO VIEWERS, THIS NEW FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT MAY BE THE DOORWAY TO THE FUTURE!" When he finished speaking, dozens of men in suits kindly handed glasses around the contender lines and the audiences alike. It almost seemed they materialized out of nowhere, as they didn't seem to be present or accounted for among the large masses until now. "How opportunistic of him," Rao responded with a smirk, noticing a blonde man walking up to them with a handful of viewer glasses. Bowing his head, he took them and allowed the man to depart and collect more glasses to hand out to other contenders. As he eyed one of them, he handed them around to his comrades, "figures he would have a hand in this Tournament..." "The businessman?" Marcus said as he took one of the glasses and looked at it in a scanning sort of way. "Why would he bother with this tournament? He's a peacekeeper as far as I know." "Peacekeeper or not, he's a businessman first. Its good publicity for him to sponsor a well loved sport such as martial arts. He's often taken fine interest into them when I was still competing as a younger man," Rao explained.